I Take it Back
by halfpeeledbanana
Summary: Our favorite students are well into their Third Year at Hogwarts. After the altercation between Hermione and Draco, things aren't quite the same. When Draco takes it too far, Hermione reacts without thinking that brings in an unsuspected character that messes everything up. Now it's up to Hermione to save the one person she can't stand.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't aim for this story to be very long, but I just couldn't leave it. I hope everyone enjoys it. I don't imagine this story will be too serious, or dark, but it has potential. I hope everyone likes it!_

_Harry Potter and the Labyrinth are not mine; I do not own them._

**The setting is the Third year Hogwarts. Time Turning Hermione Granger has had enough of Draco's bullying of Harry's fear and fainting tendencies towards Dementors. Hermione, shortly after punching Draco, finds herself in the library.**

* * *

If she thought about it and concentrated, she could still feel Malfoy's face colliding with her hand, and the burst of pride and confidence she felt. Her knuckles still ached from the contact, but she wouldn't take it back. She had thought later, that maybe there would be repercussions because of her act and she had thought about using the Time Turner that was currently hidden behind her shirt, but she didn't want to go to all that trouble. Draco _deserved it_.

She rolled her shoulders back and turned her attention back to the shelves in front of her. She was needing a book about ancient runes so she found herself in one of the oldest sections of the library. The smell of the books was all around her, and she couldn't have been more at peace. She leaned upwards onto her tiptoes and pulled a grey leather bound book from the shelf that had the runes in-scripted on the spine. She had just pulled the book from the shelf when a book fell from on top of it and hit her squarely in the eye socket. She let out a squeal of pain as she lurched back from the shelf, one hand flew to her eye while the other pulled the grey book down. Someone laughed at the end of the row and she turned to see a _very _smug looking Draco.

Amazingly enough, he was without his usual cronies. He looked normal without his left and right thugs behind him. Small even. His arms were folded across his chest. "Seems even the books have turned against you, Mudblood." The amount of vile putrescence that was leaking from his lips caused her hackles to rise. She almost growled at him.

"Yes, you're so clever." She spat. She bent down to pick up the offending book that struck her to see that it was a pretty little red book that looked hand bound. In gold letters, _the Labyrinth, _glittered up at her. She put the book on top of the other and turned to leave the aisle, to find Malfoy blocking the way.

"I'd be careful, Granger," He said, trying to look imposing, yet all Hermione saw him as was the crying boy that insulted Buckbeak. "There are more dangerous things than books around here."

"I'll punch you again if you don't get out of my way, Malfoy." She returned his scowl with one of her own. She also hoisted the books to one hip so she had a hand free to follow throw with her threat. His eyes darted from her to her free hand. He put a hand in his pocket, probably reaching for his wand. She didn't give him a chance to draw it however, as she took a threatening step towards him and raised her hand. He turned and fled.

She rolled her eyes as she returned to her seat, and plucked up the red book and started to read.

"What do you think he meant, about dangerous things?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed in thought. Hermione looked up from her little book at him next to her on the couch in the Gryffindor common room.

"I imagine he pulled the threat out of the air. Just trying to scare me. But he didn't seem so sure of himself when I moved to punch him again." She tilted her chin up just a little in pride. Pureblood supremacy her ass.

"I think it would be pretty smart if you stopped doing that, Hermione." Harry looked concerned at her for a second, "I mean it was great and all when you did the first time. It caught everyone off guard, but he won't just leave it alone, he's too prideful of a person. You're lucky he _was_ by himself in the library..."

"Oh please, Harry. I am not helpless, nor am I scared of Crabbe and Goyle." Hermione shut her book after placing the ribbon page-keeper on the page and she turned her shoulders to look at him. "I am _sick _of how he has treated us since we started school, and now him and his father are giving Hagrid and Buckbeak all that trouble for something that _Malfoy_ did! He is a smarmy git and I will _not _place nice with him when he will not pay the same courtesy to us!" Now that she had herself completely worked up, she got to her feet and took the little book with her. Her school work this week had been amazingly light so she was not concerned with it at the moment. She took her book and went to one of the lesser used study halls on the third floor.

She sat on one of the benches by the fire and opened the book back up to her page, her eyes instantly finding where she last left Sarah.

_"Give me the child...Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here to the Castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the Child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my Kingdom is as great. You h-"_

She had been absorbed in the reading so she hadn't noticed the approach of several footsteps. The book was wrenched from her hands by a thin and pale hand. She lurched to her feet and drew her wand but someone behind her gripped her hand and wrenched her wrist so the wooden weapon fell helplessly to the floor. She reflexively kicked out behind her and heard a grunt of pain, though another person grabbed her in a bear hug. The arms were thick and tight and she had no hope of struggling out of it.

She was turned to look at Draco, as he leafed through the book. He looked smug, but also at a loss for what to do. Hermione didn't stop struggling, grumbling for whoever had her to let her go. In the open doorway of the study, she saw Zabini and Nott standing causally in the doorway, keeping an eye out. Draco got bored of the book and turned to look at her.

"I told you there are dangers." He said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you must feel so superior right now; three against one. You can tell the entire school how you managed to overpower me and everyone will see you for what you are, you pathetic inbred!" Hermione spat at him, he wasn't expecting it and with alarm, wiped the bile off his face. He took a dangerous step towards her, his hand sailing through the air.

She felt the slap, but didn't fully process it until she saw the...shock on Draco's face. It seemed like he hadn't meant to do that. She felt the sting now. She blinks several times to get rid of the tears that welled in her eyes-just because of the sting of the slap.

"Draco. You said nothing about-"

"Shut up Nott!" Draco growled over his shoulder. Draco composed himself and adjusted his robes. "This Mudblood needs to learn her place. She is never to lay a hand _or _spit on someone who is far superior to her."

"You have a skewed sense of superiority. Outnumbering me, slapping me when I am defenseless. I'm surprised your parents raised you to be so despicable. I may just owl your mother and see what she has to think about what you've done."

"You hit me first!" Draco shot back at. Was that alarm in his eyes?

"And you had every avenue available to do something about it. And you chose to run! You coward! That's all you are!" She had her Gryffindor bravery to thank for the second slap Draco delivered, because of her riling him up. He hit the same spot as before, this time her head pitched to the side.

"Draco!" Zabini spoke up this time, a sense of warning in his voice. Draco shot him a glare over his shoulder before turned back to Hermione, who had a tear track down her face on the side he had slapped.

He seemed to be memorizing the defeated look about her. He looked over her shoulder briefly and nodded. Whoever had a stone grip on her pushed her harshly to the ground and she immediately reached for her wand. It was kicked away from her and the same leg that knocked it away pushed her down to the ground. She had to hurriedly put her hands on either side of her head to stop her face from crashing into the stone floor. By the time she picked herself up, the Slytherin's were long gone.

Hermione started grumbling to herself as she picked her wand up from the floor as well as _The Labyrinth _from where she dropped it. She looked at the cover as she wiped her face free of unbidden tears and sat heavily on the bench. He was such a prat!

She angrily looked at the book and grumbled, "I wish the goblins would come and take Draco Malfoy away, right now."

She didn't go back to the common room immediately, she didn't want them to see her as she was, and instead went to the lavatory nearest the common room and sat in one of the stalls with her head in her hands. She should have been able to defend herself better! She should have been paying more attention to her surroundings and hadn't let herself get jumped like that. She gingerly touched her cheek and winced at the throbbing pain that greeted her. She'd have to get that bastard back somehow.

After a while, she picked herself up off the toilet and went to the mirrors. The redness had faded and the only reminder she had of it was her bruised confidence and a faint shake in her fingers. She went to the common room.

She found Ron and Harry alone in the common room, sitting over the table in front of the fireplace. "What is it?" She asked, recognizing the Marauder's Map.

"Funny thing, really," Ron sounded pissed off, not amused, "that after we watched Malfoy and his cronies leave you by yourself on the third floor..." They trailed off and looked up at her, scrutinizing her appearance. They saw that they had been in the room, but not what actually happened. "And they were fleeing to the dungeons like the snakes they are...when Malfoy's name disappeared from the map." Ron and Harry both folded their arms across their chests at the same time, like they rehearsed it.

"What? That's impossible." Hermione's eyes widened and a strange sense of guilt flooded over her. Had what she said had anything to do with it? Harry and Ron arched an eyebrow at her, again in synchronization.

"It's what happened. They seemed to realize something was amiss by the end of the corridor and turned around and started going into all the rooms nearby. Which means..."

"He had to have vanished there as well. Now, I mean the git absolutely deserves it, but...what do you think happened?"

"You don't think Sirius Black had anything to do with it, do you?" Ron asked, though Hermione rolled her eyes at his denseness.

"He would have been on the map, then." She pointed out, causing Ron to frown.

"Oh yeah." Hermione chaffed her hands against her upper arms and started walking towards the girl's staircase. "You guys can keep looking at the map I guess. I'm going to bed, I am worn out." The both responded noncommittally and leaned back over the map. Hermione felt panicked as she walked up the stairs.

"I didn't mean it! Not really..." She was muttering to herself as she walked up the steps. "The boy is horrid, but I couldn't be that selfish. I mean, it's impossible for what I said to have actually..." She trailed off as she walked inside the 3rd year girl's dorms. None of the girls were in yet, which was odd, because it was getting rather close to bedtime. "I couldn't possibly have wished him away."

She continued to mutter to herself as she folded her school cloak and removed her jumper and tie, leaving her in the button up, skirt, and shoes. She sat down to take off her shoes when movement at the window drew her attention. It was a white owl. She got back up to let it inside when the window flew open. A gust of air and what appeared to be glitter ushered in the owl yet as soon as the owl reached the center of the room, the owl became a man with white hair, multicolored eyes, leather pants and boots, a pendant, and a smirk.

"What? No. Impossible. The book was a work of fiction!" She barked, her eyes hardly comprehending the man that was before her. His laugh was absolutely musical. He produced a crystal orb from the air and started to play with it in his hands. With her eyes trained on him she leaned over slightly and picked up her wand.

"Hermione Granger," he said in his laughter. His voice was just as melodious. "You wish away a very deserving boy and yet you regret it." He shakes his head faintly. "My dear, I have done you a favor."

Hermione who still can't process anything at this point rubs her cheeks with her hands, her eyes still glued to him (no man should be able to be inside the girl's dorms! _Hogwarts; a History _says so!) "It's-not-I had no-you can't just kidnap people when someone wishes it!"

"Is it so bad to have a wish granted?" He asked with a tilt of his head. Hermione puzzled over his words for a moment, remembering herself as the unpopular and lonely child that she was that wished for something grand and then discovered she was a witch...

Of course then she pictured Dumbledore having to tell Draco's parents that he has disappeared without a trace from the school. Lucius would have Dumbledore lose his job, and the Malfoy's would lose their only son. Hermione felt the weight of her selfish wish and suddenly shook her head.

"No. You have to return him. He will have learned his lesson, surely. Just by...being taken. Please, Goblin King," how absolutely silly she felt using that name, "you have to return him."

"What's said is said." He folded his arms across his chest, the crystal orb now gripped in his fist. "I will give you a gift," he smiled and offered out the crystal.

"What-?"

"This will show you your dreams." She looked at it and felt drawn to it, and yet she remembered the Mirror of Erised and what Harry said it did to him. How he only wanted to look at it. Hermione shook her head and refused to be tempted by it.

"No. Malfoy needs to be returned where he belongs; here at Hogwarts." She set her jaw and caused him to look around for a moment.

"Go back to your friends, your studies." He encouraged her, taking a few steps closer to her, "and forget about the boy. He won't be able to harm you where I have taken him."

"Where have you taken him?" She asked, without realizing it. This conversation seemed to mirror the book.

"_My _castle, of course." He gestured over his shoulder and out the window. She gazed at the Labyrinth that surrounded the Goblin city and the site took her breath away. He chuckled and stood next to her.

"Your life will be better with him gone. He torments you so." His gloved finger brushed her cheek where Malfoy had slapped her and she leaned away from the contact.

"It doesn't matter. I will feel guilty, forever."

"Forever is a long time, my dear." He whispered quietly. She suddenly realized that they weren't standing in the dorm room any longer and were instead in a clearing of red clay, yellowing plants, near the outer wall of the Labyrinth.

"You shouldn't defy me," he said gesturing to the world around him. His movement brought her eyes upon the castle in the center of the Labyrinth that she could just barely see.

"Just return him. That is all I am asking," Hermione turned to look at him.

He closed his eyes for a moment, "turn back before it is too late. Forget about your schoolyard bully."

"I can't." She replied quietly, her hands curling to fists. "I can't. He doesn't deserve it."

"What a pity," he sighed. "You have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth before your tormentor will become one of us forever." His voice seemed to carry away and when she looked back at him, he was gone. With a widening of her eye, she turned and walked towards the Labyrinth's wall, missing her friends.


	2. Chapter 2

After she walked down the hill she came face-to-face with the outer wall of the place. She glanced in both directions until she walked off to the right, she kept her eye trained mainly on the wall for any sign of an opening, and the rest of the time she glanced around at her surroundings. Everything seemed nondescript and unimportant.

She eventually came upon a fountain and some floating lights. She recognized a double door in the stone and she immediately moved over to it. She pressed against the door yet it did not yield. She pulled one of the rings yet it did not budge. She lifted the back of her shirt where she had shoved her wand after she had picked it up and pointed it towards the doors, "_Alohamora_!" Without a sound the doors swung open. Hermione smiled gleefully for a moment and passed inside.

Once again she had the option of left or right. She chose left again. The maze went straight on until she couldn't see any more. She wasn't phased by this, however, because she figured this maze was inherently magical and therefor would be tricky to navigate-otherwise it wouldn't be such a big deal to run it.

* * *

Through the crystal, the Goblin King watched her walk the outer wall, looking for a way in. He had put her near one, but she chose the wrong direction to walk in. He had laughed at first, but just watching her walk with her eyes on the wall got boring.

He turned to watch his prisoner for a moment. The blond boy had initially looked frightened out of his mind when he arrived in his court. Now, however, there was a smug look upon his face, his hands folded tightly across his chest. Draco his name was, and looking at him Jareth could see that he had come from an old family line with a lot of money.

He stood awkwardly amid Jareth's court of laughing, rough-housing, goofy goblins. They were of all types, and most had tried to get Draco to play along with them but they soon realized that Draco was much too old to play. So there he stood, out of place with a glare.

"I wouldn't be so mean to them," Jareth's voice jerked the boy out of his inner thoughts. The boy looked at him momentarily and then looked away. Jareth smiled at this show of fear. "If she fails to succeed, you'll become one!" Jareth laughed and gestured towards his citizens who all started laughing along with him. When Jareth stopped laughing a few seconds later they did as well, though it took them a moment.

Draco scowled down at them and then out the window, Jareth supposed he was thinking about the girl on the way to rescue him. "Fat chance _Granger_ will make it through," he sulked," she's a stupid mudblood." Jareth didn't quite understand the word but understood the hatred in the boy's words.

He felt it when he thought of _her_.

"I wouldn't be so negative towards her, Draco," Jareth replied cooly, "she's the only hope you have of leaving this place." Draco truly looked hopeless at this point.

Jareth chuckled once and then looked back at the crystal. His chuckle died in his throat as he saw she was inside the outer walls. She never should have been able to open the gates, as they can only be opened by his citzens-and they were all locked inside their homes in the Goblin City! He learned from before never to have citizens present in the maze.

While he looked bitterly at the crystal, observing the girl, he found solace in knowing that there were several other ways that would delay her.

* * *

"I am missing something." She muttered. She had been walking for thirty minutes, at least, and she had not come to a corner or a turn or an opening. She sighed and put a hand to her side where she was starting to get a cramp. There wasn't much of a chance for cardio at Hogwarts. She turned her back to the wall to lean against it yet as she backed up, she kept going...and fell solidly on her rump.

She winced and rubbed her tail bone as she looked around. The bricks had blended in so well there was was virtually no way to notice the openings without physically touching the wall. She growled lowly as she pulled herself to her feet and looked left and right again. She had gone left for so long she decided she needed to cut back some. From her current position it was impossible to see the castle so she had no reference point. With a deep sigh she took off walking again, her tailbone complaining every step.

Now that she knew what to look for, the illusion of a straight shot no longer tricked her and she walked to the left side with her hand on the wall. After only a few minutes she came to another opening. With this process she slowly made her way deeper into the labyrinth.

After twenty minutes of dark bricks full of illusion, she suddenly passed into a section of the labyrinth constructed of pale brick with short walls. She could see the castle beyond the Labyrinth and felt a pang of desperation as it was _still _so far away after all of her walking. It would really take _that_ many hours to solve this thing.

She rolled her lips over her teeth and cursed herself for having to go after Malfoy. He had _better_ appreciate this.

She kept to the right of the maze as she was taking corners. She soon came across a dead end so she back tracked, and took a right again. She came to another dead end. She stayed right and after going in nearly a complete square, she realized she was now trapped in a small blocked area that had four off shoots that all ended in a dead end. She walked to the center of it and looked over her shoulder on both sides, and then around.

She set her jaw and looked at the wall. It was maybe six feet tall. She pocketed her wand and rubbed her hands together. If she could just get up there...then she could see her way out.

She took off running straight at the wall.

* * *

Jareth let out a chuckled that brought Draco out of his brooding mood. The boy tried to look disinterested, but Jared could see the morbid curiosity there. "One of my little games." Jareth offered that teaser and he looked back at the crystal. The labyrinth took notice of the pattern was was making, by only going right, so her direction trapped her. If she walled oppositely...then she would find open paths. However, if she kept to the left she would find herself stuck once again.

"What!?" He demanded as he saw her run up one of his walls and hoist herself up, with difficulty, onto the ledge and sit up. She started looking around with a crinkle in her brow. Jareth closed his eyes and when he opened them again he was standing right in front of her. She gasped and nearly fell back.

"My my, Hermione," Jareth seemed to barely be containing his anger. "You are a cheater."

She set her jaw and pulled herself to her feet, though she was a bit unsure because of the short width of the wall. "I simply got myself out of a trap you _clearly _set!" She gestured around her. Jareth chuckled hollowly.

"You took the easy way out! No part of this place is _simple._" He looked sympathetically at her, "of course I can just send you home now." The offer dangled between them in the form of the crystal, where Hermione could just make out a rounded out view of her dorm room. She felt a pang of longing but swallowed it down. She could not be selfish at this point in time, now when Malfoy depended upon her.

She set her jaw. "No. I _will_ solve this Labyrinth." Jareth tossed the crystal up in the air, which then transformed into a bird and flew off.

"If you cheat again, you will find yourself at the _beginning _of the Labyrinth faster than you can blink." He turned and as he did he disappeared. Hermione let out a frustrated grunt and let herself down off the wall and dropped to the ground. She fell backwards but managed to avoid landing on her tail bone again. She rubbed her side as she got up and looked around. Thankfully she was not caught in the blocked area and took off. She went straight for as far as she could go and then chose left.

Right. Right. Left. Right. Straight. Up some stairs. Through a hedge. Right. Left. Over a stone bridge.

She found herself in a stone courtyard with petrified trees. She looked at their ancient forms with curious eyes. She had seen old trees before, having grown up in London and a frequent visitor to the parks there, but these trees were _old_. Hermione longed to reach out and touch one, but a whispering in her ear gave her pause.

"Hermione, where are you?" The voice was distant, yet she felt the breath of the voice right on her ear. She turned and placed a hand over the side of her face and looked around.

"R-ron?" Her voice barely seemed to work. She looked around but there was no one. She glanced back at the ancient trees.

"Hermione should have been here by now." Harry. Hermione swiveled her head around and searched for her friends, but no one was there. She was alone. Her eyes passed over the trees again.

"Harry?" She asked. Her voice was more sure of herself.

"Think she's sick?" Ron asked, now his voice was muffled as if he was eating around food. Hermione rolled her eyes faintly but walked a few steps closer to the trees.

"Maybe. Or in the Library again." Harry had a tone that led her to believe he rolled his eyes.

"What's going on there, you think?" Ron asked randomly and Harry didn't reply. Her eyes darted around her surroundings to see what he was talking about, but she saw nothing. She dropped her head and felt her lip start to quiver when she noticed the ground was moving.

No, that's not right. _Something_ was moving on the ground. She leaned downwards to inspect it, to see that there were vines snaking towards her ankles. She took three quick steps back to come in contact with a tree trunk. She spun on her heel and made it four steps before vines wrapped around her ankles and knees. She was pulled roughly off her feet and had to catch herself on her hands or she would have busted her face open. She whipped out her wand and rolled on the ground so she was on her back and pointed at the vines.

She thought they were Devil's Snare, so she gasped out the Bluebell Flames spell. The blue flames licked down her body harmlessly towards the vines and when they came in contact with them...the vines did not immediately recede from the fire, instead they started to smoke and catch fire.

She felt the heat beginning to spread from the vines to her ankles so she extinguished the flames, leaving the charred vines still dragging her further into the petrified trees. She thought quickly and spat out, "Reducto!" The vines burst into a mist of bark and she hid her eyes from the raining material.

After it settled she pulled herself to her feet and took off back in the direction she had been in.

When she was at the start of the courtyard again, she was surprised to see Jareth there.

He turned and looked at her, his eyes flicked between her rumpled appearance and the wand in her hand. He lifted his nose at it and then looked at her. "What is that?" He finally asked. Hermione looked down at her wand and then protectively hid it behind her leg, she tightened her grip for safe measure.

"My wand." She said slowly. She didn't see a sign of recognition from his face and that confused her. He should know what a wand is! He was a wizard, after all!

Wasn't he?

But then, if he wasn't, how could he do magic? He apparates, he transfigures... "Why would a human need a wand? They aren't real, at least not in the Aboveground." He looked upwards and then at her accusingly. She set her jaw.

"I am a witch. I was born with magic and this is my wand so I may use magic." This _did_ surprise him. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. Things were sliding into place for him, as to her amazingly speedy progress through his maze.

"How do you not know of magic wands? And witches and wizards for that matter?" She asked, her wand hand began twitching from her grip.

"It seems I have not been paying as much attention to the human world as I should have been these centuries passed." He looked irritated for a moment. "Never matter, you will still fail my Labyrinth, and will be my newest citizen." He turned on his heel and vanished from the air.

When he reappeared he was standing over Draco, who had finally sat in the throne room, near a window. Draco's eyes had been out on the landscape but the change in air made him turn his head. He jumped at the sudden proximity.

"You have a wand as well?" the Goblin King barked, his multicolored eyes glaring into Draco's grey ones.

"Yes...what pureblood would I be if I didn't?" Draco spat, his nose lifted slightly into the air. Jareth closed the space between them and bent slightly, so his eyes bore straight into Draco's.

"How do humans have magic?" Jareth's eyes seemed to grow in intensity as he waited for Draco's answer.

"No idea." Draco's answer seemed to ring true to Jareth, though he did grunt in frustration. He changed his approach.

"How _long_ have humans had magic?"

"...two thousand years...I think." Draco scratched his head. History of Magic was his worst subject.

Jareth nodded his head faintly and conjured a crystal. "Merlin, that thief." Jareth whispered. Draco perked up at the mention of the famous wizard, but he didn't say anything.

"This changes nothing. She still will never reach the castle." Jareth tossed the crystal into the air and it vanished it a cloud of mist.


	3. Chapter 3

She turned a corner in the shrubs and was suddenly at a dead end. She frowned. That wasn't right. She turned around to trace backwards, but found that to be a dead end as well.

She turned back around again to see two strange characters standing in two different doorways. They were behind what looked like playing cards, though she saw four legs at each.

"Hello?" She asked, barely loud enough to be heard. Two heads popped out from the bottom of the cards.

"Oh!" One exclaimed.

"Can we help you?"

"Only if this way leads to the Goblin City," Hermione replied quickly. She remembered reading about these characters in the book, but as seconds passed she was having a more difficult time remembering.

"We don't know, but they do." They pointed upwards to another set of heads that poked out from on top of the cards.

"Which way leads to the castle in the Goblin City?" She asked them.

"One way goes to sudden death. The other is safe. Choose wisely, because one of us always lies." The answer was cryptic, but Hermione knew they would be. She started to pace.

"Which one is safe?" She asked looking between them. They looked at each other.

"His way." The one on the left said.

"Oh no, it is his way!" He replied crossly. Hermione looked between them.

"One of you is lying now, or you lied before, and neither are safe." Hermione folded her arms across her chest.

"One _is_ safe. And it isn't mine." Left.

"It is _not_ mine." Right.

"Is too!" Left.

"Is not!" Right.

Hermione let out a frustrated yell, they both fell silent. "I don't care which one is safe, and which one is sudden death. Which one goes to the castle?!" They both looked at each other blankly and then back at Hermione.

"They both do."

"Neither! They both go back to the beginning!" The one on the left spoke first so Hermione stepped up to that one and leaned in close.

"What is the Goblin King's name?"

"Y-you can't ask that! We can only answer questions about the Labyrinth."

"Who rules over the Labyrinth?" Hermione countered immediately, a smirk started to take over her face.

"The Goblin King," he answered. She crossed to the card on the right.

"Who rules over the Labyrinth?" She asked confidently. He shook his head.

"You can only ask a question once."

"Who rules over the Labyrinth?" She asked again. He fell silent.

"The Labyrinth has a mind of its own and cannot be ruled or controlled," he answered. Hermione nodded and took a few steps back.

"You are lying," she said to the one on the right. "_He_ said that his way was not the way through. And you lied, so that means _your_ way leads to the castle." Hermione walked forward and pushed open the gate. It swung open silently and she stepped through, a triumphant smile on her face.

* * *

Jareth glared at the crystal, at the girl. "She shouldn't have gotten this far, " he muttered. Draco let out a derisive snort.

"Hermione Granger is many things, one of those is a Gryffindor. Infallible courage. She'll beat anything you throw at her because she's bloody brave and stupid." Draco folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall, his eyes wandered about the landscape of the city. It looked absolutely disgusting out there. Jareth had been muttering about how Granger shouldn't have made it this far, basically since she had gotten into the city.

Draco's watch seemed to be keeping the proper time, and a hovering thirteen hour clock nearby told him she had been at it for six hours. Seven left to go.

"Is that so?" Jareth asked, turning his keen green eye and brown eye on Draco. Draco returned the glare.

"Yeah. If anything, she's going to beat your Labyrinth just because you said she couldn't. She's a git like that." Jareth let out one laugh, a smile pulled at his lips. "We'll see how she goes against...this little number." He flipped his palm over, and a smaller crystal was in his hand. He tossed the crystal outside and it instantly transfigured into a large bird. It flew off and Draco watched it with curiosity.

* * *

Hermione was getting exhausted. Ever since the door she stepped through, she had been walking through tall hedges with a stone ground. She must have covered miles, but the hedges were so high she couldn't get her bearings, and she didn't want Jareth to accuse her of cheating again. Above her, she heart a terrible screech that froze the blood in her veins. The screech seemed avian but she had never heard it before.

She quickened her pace instinctively even though her legs were exhausted, and her stomach was cramping. She could really use some water as well. The bird call sounded again, much closer this time, and Hermione let out a small gasp.

The pathway she was on suddenly opened and she stepped out onto a field. It seemed to be the size of a Quidditch Pitch, maybe more. The ground was broken randomly in places and revealed stone. There was no cover in this opening except a few fallen pillars that were maybe a meter-maybe two-thick. It was hard to tell because of the distance. A shadow swept over the clearing and Hermione's eyes darted towards the sky.

This was no regular bird. The Condor maybe was the best comparison she could make for this thing, but it was still larger than that. Her eyes followed it as it leaned left and swept back over the clearing. She had no doubt in her mind that it would attack if she stepped out into the open.

The bird let out its screech again and Hermione's hands clapped over her ears. She struggled to remain standing. The call seemed to fill her head and rattle her brain. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't understand why the bird's call was this terrible. It frightened her immensely.

She gripped her wand and followed the bird again, judging the speed of it, and it's circling of the clearing. It stayed at roughly at sixty meters above the ground. "Okay. okay," she whispered, her grip on her wand slick with sweat.

"_IMMOBULOUS!" _She let out a bellow as loud as she could muster, willing all of the power she had into the spell. It shot from her wand and she watched, frozen, as the spell hit the bird, like she intended.

With wings frozen out by it's sides, the bird stayed aloft for a while, but started to lose ground. Hermione watched long enough to realize that it was indeed, frozen, and she took off running.

The earthly part of the ground turned to mud as she ran, and then muck. It suctioned her feet and made it impossible to run. She looked again at the bird, who was still soaring in a straight line, and then struggled to get her feet out of the mud. She stood on stone then and realized how slow her progress would be across the field. The stones were several feet apart-too far to jump- and she had yet to reach the fallen pillars. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

How could she get across the field in time? Before the bird recovered? She tried to take deep breaths. How could she solidify the mud?

"_Glacius!_" It came first to her mind. She pointed her wand at the mud before her and watched as the blue light was swallowed into the ground. She touched her foot gingerly to the ground and was relieved to see that she remained on the surface. She took two short steps out, and remained up. She ran to the next stone exposure and cast the spell again.

And so was her progress. With each spell, she felt herself draining a bit more. The bird was gone from sight now. She forced herself to concentrate, the first pillar was approaching. When she did make it to the pillar she scrambled up on top of it as fast as she could. This added height let her see more of the field. It was...a chess board of sorts, but the mud had over taken a lot of the stonework. At the far end-the direction she was headed, she could make out the castle. With a breath of relief she realized how close she was. And in the same second she saw that the last several meters of field was solid mud.

She moved down the pillar as fast as she dared and eased herself onto the ground. She froze the mud as she ran and made her way to the next pillar. Her progress was slow.

She made it to about two thirds of the way across the field when the bird let out its terrifying call. She froze. She was terribly exposed here. She was on a pillar at the moment, her arms out stretched for balance. The bird was still out of sight. She was just about to jump down when a gust of wind played with her hair.

On the wind carried a whisper, "Hermione." It sang as it tugged at her hair and clothes. It first started as a gentle breeze but then it became more insistent, the call of her name was constant, she crouched to the pillar and eased herself down, but the wind remained bothering her. She froze the mud in front of her, but the wind stole away her spell. She again crouched and released her spell with the tip of her wand almost touching the mud. It stuck this time and she took a low step onto the mud. She slipped instantly.

Before, she hadn't had the wind to mess with her balance and the frozen slick surface of the mud hadn't been a problem. But now she would have no traction.

With tears in her eyes, at the hopelessness of her situation she crawled, on her elbows and knees. The wind still bothered her but she moved more in the direction she meant to than not. Once on the stone she moved on. The bird sounded again.

She fell then, the call of the bird filled her head and blurred her vision. She was cowering, shivering. The wind still called her name, now screaming.

The shadow of the bird passed over her and Hermione's heart pounded painfully in her chest, filling her with adrenaline.

She'd die here. She'd die if she tried to run. Tears leaked quickly from her eyes now.

"Get up," the wind said suddenly, but the voice wasn't Jareth's any longer. She knew that voice. It was Malfoy. But there was a lot in the voice she hadn't heard before. Pleading. Pain. Encouragement.

Hermione was, again, reminded, that it wasn't just her life on the line here. It was Draco's as well. She clenched her fists and looked up at the bird, still circling over head. Though it was several meters lower this time. She took a step out into the mud.

If she froze it again, she would have to crawl and that would put her in an indefensible position against the bird. It was so large it could easily pluck her from her prone figure. And her progress was too slow with the wind and the ice. Yet if she stepped through the mud, the bird may be able to see her standing easier, it wouldn't be as easy to pick her up with as thick and as deep as her feet are in the mud.

She was almost to the stone when the bird landed in front of her. She stared at it, eyes wide. It was taller than she was, it's wings outstretched would swallow her. The bird was solid black with a gray shine in its feathers. At it's neck was a light and puffy necklace of plummage. It's head was giant, it's mouth could easily claim one of her arms. Her entire head could fit in its beak, which was probably half a meter. It's eyes bore into hers.

She saw intelligence in them. She didn't move. She barely breathed.

"I am Terror," it said. The voice was like nails, and scratching, and breaking glass. It tugged at her ears, as if prolonged exposure would cause them to bleed. She wanted to cover her ears but she didn't want to move.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she responded. She wasn't being polite, or trying to be funny. She had no idea what to do.

"Do you know what lies beneath the ground, here?" The wings spread wide in a gesture to the field around them. Hermione didn't take her eyes off the bird. She felt something nudge her foot, first from beneath the mud. She held in a scream as she looked down.

A pearly white skull floated around her, as if she was standing in water and not mud. Tears started to leak from her eyes again.

She had never known this level of fear existed. She felt it in every nerve, in every heart beat. She couldn't think and she couldn't move.

"Fight," a voice in the back of her mind nudged, like the wind. She drew in a deep breath. How? How could she fight something so huge?

"I'll feed you to my nestlings." The bird's voice assaulted her mind and she felt ghost beaks nipping and tearing at her flesh. She raised her wand at the bird.

"No," she whispered quietly, "I won't let you." She somehow managed to keep the tremble out of her hand. "IMMOBULOUS!" The bird froze again, this time falling over. She drew in a deep breath and she started to move. She'd have to bypass that stone entirely. She trudge through the mud as fast as she could, the wind still pulling at her. She felt as if each second was borrowed. She constantly looked over her shoulder to make sure the heap of feathers remained there.

After a while she stood at the end. Looking across the several meters of mud. She took her first steps.

Of course this mud didn't just swallow her shins, it went up to her knees. She let out an enraged yell. What else could she do?! Ice wouldn't work because of the wind.

"Fire," she said quietly. Heat it. Turn it to dirt, or clay, or something. "_Lacarnum Inflamare_!" She put all her adrenaline into it and watched as the flames lept from her wand and scorched the ground. The jet licked the ground. She kept the flame up as she gingerly pulled her leg up and stepped on the burnt ground. It held.

She managed to get her other leg up and saw that her weight was pressing the burnt top layer, into the mud. She had to move quick. She shuffled forward as quick as she dared onto the land, as her flames kept burning the ground before her.

She could only concentrate on what she was doing as she moved forward. She ate up the distance slowly. When she she was close enough, she extinguished the flames and jumped for the stone landing. She landed solidly and turned to look back at the fallen form of the bird.

It was gone.

She took a few steps forward, towards the re-entrance of the maze, her eyes searching the field behind her, when she bumped into a figure. She raised her wand and wiped her head around in the same motion, expecting Terror.

It was Jareth. She didn't lower her wand as she glared at him, her heart was still pounding but she felt so drained. So exhausted. She needed food and water.

He didn't look angry, or upset. If anything, she would venture a guess that he was impressed. "I will say well done," he gestured sideways and suddenly the pathway before them led to a table with food set on it. Hermione eyed it hungrily. She realized after a second of looking at the food that Draco was sitting there as well. He looked alarmed, at his surroundings and then at Hermione and Jareth.

"Sit," Jareth ushered her forward.


End file.
